Reorienting the Diamond in Early Modern England by Jessica
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Reorienting the Diamond in Early Modern England by Jessica Roberts Frazier B.A. in English and French, May 2001, Furman University M.A. in English, May 2007, American University A Dissertation submitted to The Faculty of The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 31, 2014 Dissertation directed by Jonathan Gil Harris Professor of English The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University certifies that Jessica Roberts Frazier has passed the Final Examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy as of June 3, 2014. This is the final and approved form of the dissertation. Reorienting the Diamond in Early Modern England Jessica Roberts Frazier Dissertation Research Committee: Jonathan Gil Harris, Professor of English, Dissertation Director Holly Dugan, Associate Professor of English, Committee Member Jonathan Hsy, Associate Professor of English, Committee Member ii © Copyright 2014 by Jessica Roberts Frazier All rights reserved iii Dedication For my mom and my dad who raised me in a world of books; for my brother who was my playmate in that realm; for my sweet Raleigh, sunshine distilled; for my Will, for always. iv Acknowledgements Without Jonathan Gil Harris, “Reorienting the Diamond in Early Modern England” would not have come into existence. I had in mind a project much less glittering, of which diamonds served only a part. Gil whispered the siren call that enabled me to chase after the early modern diamond. I will be forever grateful that he did and forever indebted to him for the guidance and learning that oriented my path. Professionally, I am a better scholar for having had the privilege of Gil’s insight and direction; personally, I am a better person for having known him. Without Holly Dugan, “Reorienting the Diamond in Early Modern England” would not have come to a terminus. With her perspicacious reading, keen wit, and charmed verve, Holly gifted me the courage to bring this stage of the project to a close in my own voice. Holly, my gratitude is as ineffable as your generosity. Thank you. As will be evident, Jeffery Jerome Cohen’s voice and writings haunt this project. His capacious thinking and generative interpretations have left their imprint in the pages here. But the kindness of his spirit and his readiness to witness to the scholar in all of his students have determined the kind of professor that I hope to be. For Jonathan Hsy, I possess gratitude that my life has been graced by his. Throughout the various stages of my graduate work, Jonathan bestowed intellectual inspiration, ready enthusiasm, and unyielding support that exceeded duty or expectation. The elegance of your mind is matched only by the depth of your heart. To Amanda Bailey, my innumerable thanks for your willingness to engage with this project. The thoughtful creativity with which you approached the project will enable a richer development of argument as I move forward. v Little did I know how fortunate I would be in my literary cohort at George Washington University. Lowell Duckert’s brilliant innovation in the field provided a model for me, and his friendship supplied continued affirmation. Nedda Mehdizadeh served as my own personal Tim Gunn. Without her steadying voice, I would have been adrift time and time again. Her intelligence, her insight, and her love have been gifts indeed. To Jennifer Wood, the other half of J-Force, my deepest gratitude for seeing me through to the end of our journey together. The profundity of your thought and loveliness of your spirit stir reflection and aspiration. Many other individuals have touched this project. Education Officer Antonia Keaney and Archivist John Forster at Blenheim Palace generously and continually furnished information about the Woodstock Palace plinth without which Chapter One would have been impoverished. And Ms. Keaney took time from her charged schedule to supply the photo of the plinth included here. Keith Leonard, Madhavi Menon, David Pike, and Roberta Rubenstein opened the way for me to pursue doctoral studies. The genius and rigor of Madhavi’s theorization continue to inform my approach, and the kindness of her heart continues to aspire affection. Without David Pike, I would not have known that early modern fashion was my future. Without his unswerving dedication to teaching and to mentoring, this project would not have begun. And to Bill Aarnes, my sincerest love and thanks for setting me on this road so many years ago, for seeing a future that I did not yet know was possible. I was privileged to spend the last two years of my assistantship at the Folger Shakespeare Library with Shakespeare Quarterly . In assuming the position, I little realized the profound impact that my time there would make upon this project and upon vi my heart. Time and again, Gail Kern Paster offered sagacious advice and direction. I will always be grateful for the support that she has given and continues to give, and the lovely smile with which she bestows it. Anna Levine listened to me muddle endlessly through a variety of diamond quandaries. And, in the end, she directed me toward Elaine Freedgood’s incomparable The Ideas in Things . Anna, you are truly the best of souls. And to Mimi Godfrey, how I am even to begin? Your guidance, your patience, your persistence, your almost incomprehensible kindness—these gifts steadied my footing during tumultuous times. Your presence enabled perseverance. Your friendship has been one of the joys of my life. Finally, to my family. My parents, Vicki and Jim Roberts, have provided me with a life of literature, learning, and love. Their commitment to education resulted in a daughter equally ardent in her passion for teaching. My dad has encouraged every daydream, and my mom has lovingly read the words that resulted. My brother, Brian, his wife, Jennifer, and my precious niece and nephew have sprinkled love and encouragement over my endeavors. My husband, Will, told me that I could do this: so I did. Thank you for walking this long road with me and for the love that made the many steps joyful. And, finally, to our little girl, Raleigh, whose smile outshines the fairest diamond and whose pride in “mama working” reminded me of the project’s importance. vii Abstract of Dissertation Reorienting the Diamond in Early Modern England A simple question animates this project: What did people living in early modern England think about diamonds? Put differently, what was a diamond for the English during the Tudor and Stuart reigns? This dissertation follows the travels and travails of the diamond through a variety of generically distinct works from the poetry of Elizabeth I and the historiography of John Foxe to the narratives of travelers and merchants like John Mandeville, Ralph Fitch, and William Methwold to the plays of Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Through these texts, we learn that that while in some respects the diamond extends a shared point of contact between our moment and that of England of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in others, the diamond reflects an early modern orientation toward its contours radically distinct from but instructive to our engagement with the stone. An interrogation into diamonds in early modern England matters because the matter of the diamond nuances our understanding of the way that the stone inflected culture, economics, politics, and religion broadly, and theories of affect, materiality, and phenomenology specifically. In terms of historical and literary scholarship, this proves important work. However, the early modern diamond also refracts our own purchase on and of a crystalline structure that has underwritten amputations, massacre and war in countries like Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe; child labor in parts of India; and the heteronormative love of the modern marriage market, particularly in the United States. Thus, a reconsideration of our (im)material engagement with the stone is of no little ethical urgency. viii Table of Contents Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………………v Abstract of Dissertation…………………………………………………………………viii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………......x Introduction: Diamond Reorientations……………………………………………………1 Chapter 1: Writing Diamond Desire in Reformation England…………………………..34 Chapter 2: Traveling in Early Modern Diamond Myth and Narrative…………………..79 Chapter 3: Staging Diamond Economies of (Dis)Enchantment ……………………….136 Coda: Diamonds of the Old Water……………………………………………………..180 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………188 ix List of Figures Figure 1………………………………………………………………………………….46 x Introduction: Diamond Reorientations In the case of the Wittelsbach, what's at stake is at minimum over 350 years of history, as every nick, chip, and scratch has a story to tell. Just because we can’t decipher these stories doesn’t mean they don’t exist. ~ Scott Sucher on the recent cutting of the famed Wittelsbach Diamond 1 In The Art of Limning (c. 1600), Nicholas Hilliard appeals to gemstones when detailing for the portrait miniaturist the “perfect cullors” of which he or she should make use. 2 By the time that he penned his treatise, Hilliard stood as one of the most celebrated limners in England, and he had served Queen Elizabeth I in this capacity for roughly three decades. Yet Hilliard was not only limner to the Queen but also goldsmith. Apprenticed at 15 to the prominent goldsmith Robert Brandon, Hilliard